To play in the Football World Cup, study the Koran!

Egyptian national team won the African Nations’ Cup held in Angola. The coach Hassan Shehata, who is a national hero right now, claimed when he was selecting players, religious piety and skill were equally important. (Google News)

Let alone the fact that more than 10% of the population are Christians, not all Muslims in politically secular Egypt would be pious enough for Coach Shehata’s standard. This reminds me the eccentric coach of French national team Raymond Domenech, who uses his astrological knowledge to determine who should be in his squad.

I’m not that sure that this championship is a reward from Allah. As a proof, his devotion didn’t bring his team to the World Cup final in South Africa, which is more important for Egyptian team, who hasn’t qualified since 1990. Instead, Egypt lost to their sworn archrival, the Algerian team. Probably he should make sure all of his players fulfill their salah requirements.